Another Shortage Coming??

Don M.

SF VIP
Location
central Missouri
This pandemic has created all sorts of shortages in the past year. Now, there is a possibility of gas stations running out of fuel, due to a shortage of fuel delivery drivers. It seems that last year, when the number of people driving/traveling dropped substantially, many of these drivers left that career. Now, with the pandemic showing signs of moderating, and people starting to hit the roads again, there is growing concern that gas stations will be running out of fuel. There seems to be no shortage of gas....just an issue of getting the fuel from the refineries/depots to the gas stations.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/27/business/summer-gasoline-shortage/index.html
 

Remember the fuel "shortage" of the 70s when people would willingly burn fuel sitting in lines for hours to fill up their tanks? Here we go again. History DOES repeat itself. The difference this time is that now it has become the norm to shoot the guy in front of you so you get your gas.

Tony
 
gas here is delivered by local station what has their own, but they get it from major supplier. solution to running out of gas? buy electric car!
 

I have to tell you this... For the last almost entire 14 months.. except for supermarkets and pharmacies we have had pretty much everything closed... that's meant we've had to have almost everything delivered, and that actually includes supermarket shopping for a huge swathe of the population, either because they feared going to the crowded supermarkets or any other reason..

Aman, Ups, and several other couriers were out in such force there was hardly room on the roads for other vehicles.. a little exaggeration, but in the suburbs, and our here in the country.. we couldn't count how many vans were pulling up day after day with packages.. and only started easing off a little now since we had a slight lockdown easing 2 weeks ago..

However our petrol prices were at pretty much an all time low throughout this and certainly no scarcity... only now have they started to rise again a little..we pay £1.23 at the cheapest supermarket for unleaded per LITRE ..during the height of the lockdown that was around the middle teens...
 
gas here is delivered by local station what has their own, but they get it from major supplier. solution to running out of gas? buy electric car!

Yeah, electric car. Spend thousands more for an electric car, then try to find a charging station if you have to drive more than 100 miles, and spend half the day recharging. No thanks. Perhaps in another 20 years, the infrastructure needed to support these vehicles, and a battery that can be charged in minutes, will make these practical. For now, and the foreseeable future, gas/diesel vehicles are going to be needed unless a person only drives a few miles a day, and has a charging station at their house.
 
I don't drive enough to be concerned with the uptick in fuel prices for my vehicle but I am concerned that it will cause the price of most everyday items to increase.

“Inflation is like toothpaste. Once it’s out, you can hardly get it back in again.” - Karl Otto Pohl

“Inflation makes the wealthiest people richer and the masses poorer.” - James Cook

“Inflation hasn’t ruined everything. A dime can still be used as a screwdriver.” - H. Jackson Brown Jr.
 
Shortages and manufacturing disruptions are occurring in all sorts of consumer goods....as a result of this pandemic. I fully expect Inflation to become an increasing problem as the rest of this year unfolds.

It's bound to. The pandemic is a pebble in the global economic sea. We'll live through economic ripples years beyond disease containment. Just pray that it stays pebble and ripples and doesn't progress to earthquake and tsunami.
 
So far the price of lumber has made it almost impossible to take on projects.
My son and his wife were looking at a couch yesterday and the salesperson couldn’t give them a delivery option because of the price of foam, I ordered a chair and ottoman from Wayfair last week and order status says delayed.
All in all, this is not good.
 


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